diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/RenderTemplateAction.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/RenderTemplateAction.java
index 5449c942..1bb6e3ce 100644
--- a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/RenderTemplateAction.java
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/RenderTemplateAction.java
@@ -26,20 +26,30 @@ import java.io.StringWriter;
 import java.util.Map;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.AbstractQActionFunction;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.exceptions.QException;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.logging.QLogger;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.actions.AbstractActionInput;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.templates.RenderTemplateInput;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.templates.RenderTemplateOutput;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.templates.TemplateType;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.utils.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.velocity.VelocityContext;
 import org.apache.velocity.app.Velocity;
+import org.apache.velocity.app.event.EventCartridge;
+import org.apache.velocity.app.event.MethodExceptionEventHandler;
 import org.apache.velocity.context.Context;
+import static com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.logging.LogUtils.logPair;
 
 
 /*******************************************************************************
  ** Basic action to render a template!
+ **
+ ** hard-coded built to only assume Velocity right now.  could expand (and refactor) in future.
  *******************************************************************************/
 public class RenderTemplateAction extends AbstractQActionFunction<RenderTemplateInput, RenderTemplateOutput>
 {
+   private static final QLogger LOG = QLogger.getLogger(RenderTemplateAction.class);
+
+
 
    /*******************************************************************************
     **
@@ -52,9 +62,12 @@ public class RenderTemplateAction extends AbstractQActionFunction<RenderTemplate
       if(TemplateType.VELOCITY.equals(input.getTemplateType()))
       {
          Velocity.init();
-         Context      context      = new VelocityContext(input.getContext());
+         Context context = new VelocityContext(input.getContext());
+
+         setupEventHandlers(context);
+
          StringWriter stringWriter = new StringWriter();
-         Velocity.evaluate(context, stringWriter, "logTag", input.getCode());
+         Velocity.evaluate(context, stringWriter, StringUtils.hasContent(input.getTemplateIdentifier()) ? input.getTemplateIdentifier() : "anonymous", input.getCode());
          output.setResult(stringWriter.getBuffer().toString());
       }
       else
@@ -67,12 +80,28 @@ public class RenderTemplateAction extends AbstractQActionFunction<RenderTemplate
 
 
 
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   private static void setupEventHandlers(Context context)
+   {
+      EventCartridge eventCartridge = new EventCartridge();
+      eventCartridge.addEventHandler((MethodExceptionEventHandler) (ctx, aClass, method, exception, info) ->
+      {
+         LOG.info("Exception in velocity template", exception, logPair("at", info.toString()));
+         return (null);
+      });
+      eventCartridge.attachToContext(context);
+   }
+
+
+
    /*******************************************************************************
     ** Most convenient static wrapper to render a Velocity template.
     *******************************************************************************/
    public static String renderVelocity(AbstractActionInput parentActionInput, Map<String, Object> context, String code) throws QException
    {
-      return (render(parentActionInput, TemplateType.VELOCITY, context, code));
+      return (render(TemplateType.VELOCITY, context, code));
    }
 
 
@@ -80,7 +109,7 @@ public class RenderTemplateAction extends AbstractQActionFunction<RenderTemplate
    /*******************************************************************************
     ** Convenient static wrapper to render a template of an arbitrary type (language).
     *******************************************************************************/
-   public static String render(AbstractActionInput parentActionInput, TemplateType templateType, Map<String, Object> context, String code) throws QException
+   public static String render(TemplateType templateType, Map<String, Object> context, String code) throws QException
    {
       RenderTemplateInput renderTemplateInput = new RenderTemplateInput();
       renderTemplateInput.setCode(code);
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/templates/RenderTemplateInput.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/templates/RenderTemplateInput.java
index eeaf05aa..87302d40 100644
--- a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/templates/RenderTemplateInput.java
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/templates/RenderTemplateInput.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.actions.AbstractActionInput;
  *******************************************************************************/
 public class RenderTemplateInput extends AbstractActionInput
 {
+   private String       templateIdentifier;
    private String       code; // todo - TemplateReference, like CodeReference??
    private TemplateType templateType;
 
@@ -147,4 +148,35 @@ public class RenderTemplateInput extends AbstractActionInput
       return (this);
    }
 
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Getter for templateIdentifier
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public String getTemplateIdentifier()
+   {
+      return (this.templateIdentifier);
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Setter for templateIdentifier
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public void setTemplateIdentifier(String templateIdentifier)
+   {
+      this.templateIdentifier = templateIdentifier;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Fluent setter for templateIdentifier
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public RenderTemplateInput withTemplateIdentifier(String templateIdentifier)
+   {
+      this.templateIdentifier = templateIdentifier;
+      return (this);
+   }
+
 }
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/RenderTemplateActionTest.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/RenderTemplateActionTest.java
index 1b8a8676..926b80f5 100644
--- a/qqq-backend-core/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/RenderTemplateActionTest.java
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/templates/RenderTemplateActionTest.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.templates.RenderTemplateInput;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.templates.RenderTemplateOutput;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.templates.TemplateType;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatThrownBy;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 
@@ -36,8 +37,11 @@ import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 /*******************************************************************************
  ** Unit test for RenderTemplateAction
  *******************************************************************************/
-class RenderTemplateActionTest extends BaseTest
+public class RenderTemplateActionTest extends BaseTest
 {
+   private int doThrowCallCount = 0;
+
+
 
    /*******************************************************************************
     **
@@ -82,11 +86,46 @@ class RenderTemplateActionTest extends BaseTest
    @Test
    void testMissingType()
    {
-      RenderTemplateInput parentActionInput = new RenderTemplateInput();
-
-      assertThatThrownBy(() -> RenderTemplateAction.render(parentActionInput, null, Map.of("name", "Darin"), "Hello, $name"))
+      assertThatThrownBy(() -> RenderTemplateAction.render(null, Map.of("name", "Darin"), "Hello, $name"))
          .isInstanceOf(QException.class)
          .hasMessageContaining("Unsupported Template Type");
    }
 
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   @Test
+   void testExceptionInVelocity() throws QException
+   {
+      RenderTemplateInput renderTemplateInput = new RenderTemplateInput();
+      renderTemplateInput.setCode("""
+         This should throw: $this.doThrow().
+         This should throw silently: $!this.doThrow().
+         """);
+      renderTemplateInput.setContext(Map.of("this", this));
+      renderTemplateInput.setTemplateType(TemplateType.VELOCITY);
+      RenderTemplateOutput output = new RenderTemplateAction().execute(renderTemplateInput);
+      assertThat(output.getResult())
+         .contains("throw: $this.doThrow().")
+         .contains("throw silently: .");
+
+      ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+      // make sure our method got called twice as expected //
+      ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+      assertEquals(2, doThrowCallCount);
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public String doThrow() throws Exception
+   {
+      doThrowCallCount++;
+      throw (new Exception("You asked to throw..."));
+   }
+
 }
\ No newline at end of file